Ina May Gaskin: "Birth Matters: A Midwife's Manifesta"
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-07-25/ina-may-gaskin-birth-matters-midwifes-manifesta
Fetal monitors, forceps and medication have become commonplace in American delivery rooms. Now a third of American babies arrive by C-section. A new book examines the industry of delivering babies. The author - veteran midwife Ina May Gaskin - says a climate of fear has led some women to give up control of the birth process to the medical establishment. She advocates greater respect for women's bodies, wider acceptance of natural deliveries - and new efforts to reconcile modern life with a process as old as humanity itself. Ina May Gaskin talks about her "midwife's manifesta."
Guests
Ina May Gaskin
founder and director of the Farm Midwifery Center in Tennessee; author of "Spiritual Midwifery" and "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth."
Comments
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How could you have a private birth in any hospital?...I have had 4 natural births in a hospital but there was no privacy in the clinical setting...IMO if you want privacy, there is nothing like the comfort and safety of a home birth....there is privacy & seclusion at home...and birth is not that messy...women have been giving birth at home for thousands of years, it wasn't until quite recently that women started having births in hospitals....Hospitals are for sick people and birth belongs at home.....I am sorry that you feel that birth could only be improved by being put to sleep with the first contraction....and to wake up when it's over....IMO I wouldn't have missed my babies births for anything.....My 5th child was born at home and it was a beautiful and empowering experience....I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I gave my son the safest and most peaceful birth because we were in our own home with highly skilled midwives.
PS My second child was born in a hospital with a skilled midwife who not only prevented me from having a c-section but also saved my daughter's life...there was an OB present and I can tell you he learned a lot on that day from the midwife (his partner).... the OB wanted to do a c-section under the circumstances, but my daughter would likely not have survived the medication.....but the midwife knew just what to do....
I recently had a VBAC at home. No doctor in the hospital would support a natural birth, and I gave birth naturally at home in seven hours with zero complications. Thank you to midwives and Ina May for supporting women and proving a healthy and safe way to give birth. My birth at home was the most empowering thing I've ever experienced and it would not have been possible in the hospital. Too many women are having their births stolen from them, and we need to be sharing the truth that birth is beautiful and empowering and the system is robbing women of our intrinsic ability to birth. WE CAN BIRTH!!!! Don't let anyone take that away from you!!!!
I had both of my children in hospitals- one in 1999 and one in 2005. I never had an epidural because they scared me more than the pain of child birth. I chose no pain meds for both, but in my first birth they forced me to be hooked up to a machine, wouldn't let me walk, etc. I considered a homebirth with #2 but, I didn't want to deal with the clean up in our tiny apartment with a six year old at home at the time. My husband and I were very clear about wanting to be left alone as much as possible, not wanting meds, etc. They were great. They basically left us alone until the doctor came in and held baby so my husband could cut the cord. We were home within 24 hours. This was in a large midwestern city. They seemed very open to us wanting as little intervention as possible. If I ever got pregnant again, I would choose a setting other than a hospital but not sure I'd want to do it at home. Seems like a lot of work cleaning up afterwards with a new baby. Not sure I'd have a support network that would be okay with helping in that way. A birthing center would sound good. But...I think we're done! Best of luck to all. Women are strong and as Dr. Tiller always said, "Trust Women".
I had a natural hospital birth and everything went beautifully. I hired a doula who mothered and encouraged me through every contraction of my long labor. She was also able to check my dilation level so we didn't go to the hospital too early. With her recommendation I chose the prenatal clinic and delivery hospital that was open/friendly to women wanting natural birth. My birth plan was ready to hand out to the doctor on call and nurses at the hospital: it stated my wishes of the natural birth in detail. We even had a fun sign on my suite's door declaring it a "drug-free zone - natural childbirth in progress". I felt most comforted and encouraged by my doula, she was familiar with many of the hospital's staff so they knew what to expect when we came in. My husband was most comforted as well! I was able to walk around, take showers, sit on a ball, whatever I needed to get through contractions. I feel confident that if things didn't go according to plan the hospital staff would take care of the situation - everyone was most supportive and encouraging. The doctor on call who delivered the baby said he wished he had more patients like me!
I am not sure I would have been brave enough to try a home birth with my first child. So I guess I could say I had the most natural birth you could have in a hospital! I couldn't have done it without my doula. If you are considering a natural birth and plan to go to a hospital to do it - a good doula you can trust is the ticket! I have a second child on the way and plan to do the same thing again.
What I find really frustrating about birth in America is that it seems to be a field of such extremes. When I wanted to try for a vbac with my second, it was so hard to find either an OB that would do it, OR a midwife that wasn't totally anti-hospital. It felt like just saying that I wanted to try it, but in a hospital environment in case anything went wrong was just not acceptable to either the overly medicalized OB world or the overly anti-medical midwife community. Luckily I did find a midwife who would work with me in a hosptial -- and good thing, bc after 25hrs of labor, I ended up being one of the tiny percentage of women that had a uterine rupture along my scar, and had we not been in a hospital, I'm pretty sure that I would have died, along with my beautiful (and happily healthy) daughter.
So, my question is: how do we create a system where natural childbirth is supported and encouraged, but not romanticized, and where we also take advantage of the medical advances that we are fortunate enough to have access to?
I'm a European living in the U.S. for about 4 years. I live for natural stuff: eating organic, using herbs and sauna, walking a lot, commuting with bicycle, nursing my 2 1/2 years old, attachment parenting...etc. And I'm someone who freaks out of hospital because I associate it with deaths - thanks to childhood experience. Anyone who I visited in the hospital was just about to die. So for me giving birth in the hospital was a big NO! I had a wonderful midwife and her assistant and of course my husband supporting me. I gave birth in a birthing center in Orlando. It was the most amazing experience of my life. And it's not because I had it easy. It was a 3 days exhausting birth. I was in the bathtub the first 2 :). Then I walked and squatted for an other day, then finally my hero daughter was born. It was a true miracle! If I did not choose a midwife and go to he hospital, I would have had a c-section for sure! WHY??? Because in America health care does not exist. It's not profitable. Let's make everyone sick and keep everyone sick to get the huge bucks. In Europe we prevent sickness! In Europe c-section is not more profitable then having natural birth! That's the huge and only difference why women have medicated births here in the U.S.: $$$$$$ . Midwifes are heroes assisting miracles!
Mercy, I would recommend maybe attending an ICAN meeting or a La Leche League meeting to find other mothers who can offer support and information.
Also, seek out someone who will listen to your birth story and allow you to process your painful experience.
There may be some doulas in your area who can support you through this, too.
Msai, It sounds as if you had the experience of collaboration between drs and midwives. You were allowed to labor and you had the backup dr when it was needed. So many women would have been scheduled for a repeat cesarean birth without the chance to labor.
I am so happy to finally hear Ina May on the DR Show! Thank you!
I'm disappointed that Ina May didn't get to talk about her Safe Motherhood Quilt and more details about the lack of standards for medical care in the US.
The Cochrane Collaboration has good research and can be found on childbirthconnection.org for full information. I wish the DR Show would do another important show on the Listening to Mothers survey.
And maybe a separate show on doulas!
Doulas provide emotional and physical support during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Usually a woman's medical care is taken care of but the emotional and physical side of labor and birth is largely ignored. Doulas decrease the chance of certain medical complications, such as, failure to progress, CPD, and cesarean birth. We provide non-drug comfort measures, encouragement, suggestions for position changes, massage, and more. We facilitate communication with the mother and her midwife or Dr so that she can make sure they are aware of her preferences. I feel that it is important for a mother feel like her maternity care provider is on the same page with her, so to speak, so that she does not need to feel like she is compromising her values or that she must 'fight' for her wishes to be acknowledged. This takes a lot of planning prenatally, so doulas spend a lot of time with mothers and fathers before the birth.
This is a very important topic. I would also love to see/hear Penny Simkin from DONA interviewed.
Child birth is like cooking, there are many ways to produce a nice outcome and tastes may vary. I experienced unmedicated labor for my first child and oh boy, I never want a repeat. But that's my taste. Pain medication (or any unnecessary medication) shouldn't be pushed on anyone and it is the problem with hospital births in the US: unnecessary use of labor inducing drugs, restraining, episiotomies, and eventually c-sections. So I understand and respect the desire of many women to have a natural childbirth, in the comfort of their home if they wish.
I ended up with two c-sections, one necessary because of a breech baby and the second by choice. Why did I choose the second to be a repeat c-section (my doctor left me a choice between a VBAC and a c-section)? A home birth was never an appealing option for me (once again, my personal taste). I was aware of the risks of a scheduled c-section and the ones of a VBAC and deemed them similar. I just didn't want to have to deal with all the unnecessary induction, overmedication, that would have most likely resulted in another c-section anyway. What mattered was the outcome: healthy babies. Do I feel less empowered? No. I gave birth. I carried two babies to term. I was able to bond with them the day they were born. They were and still are healthy. I love them to death and this is what makes me a mother.
As a young woman I watched my sister give birth at home to her two youngest children each weighing over 9 and 10 lbs respectively. I knew then there was no otherr way for me to give birth. My first child was born in 1996 in our Family home with loved ones all around. With each child I carried, continuously educated myself and my family to create a safe and wonderrful entrance to life. I now have 5 beautiful daughters, all homebirthed and done in a way I felt was just right for us. I believe the key to anything successful in life is an open mind and a willingness to learn at every opportunity. I lost a child to placenta previa. NO dr or midwife could have prevented that. I still birthed that child my way in my home. Afterrwards I went to the hospital, expecting to be cared for properly with a loss such as that. Not me. I was sent home, no D&C nothing. I hemmoraged a week later and nearly died. I believe the problem lies with some people with too much education, an unwillingness to see that instinct and common sense, intellect and the ability to form an opinion based on personal knowledge and self education can sometimes know better than a textbook. I believe if you follow you own instincts it will take you exactly where you need to be and what is best for you and your family. Mine led me to stay home.